Subject-verb agreement is a grammatical concept that refers to the correspondence between the subject and the verb in a sentence . In English, the subject and the verb must agree in number , person , and tense . This means that if the subject is singular , the verb should be singular, and if the subject is plural, the verb should be plural .
1. (a) Singular subject
with a singular verb :
When the subject of a
sentence is singular, the verb should also be singular .
Example :
The dog barks
at the postmaster .
In this sentence ,
"dog" is the singular subject, and "barks" is the singular
verb that agrees with the subject .
(b) Plural subject with a
plural verb :
When the subject of a
sentence is plural, the verb should also be plural .
Example :
The dogs bark
at the postmaster .
In this sentence ,
"dogs" is the plural subject, and "bark" is the plural verb
that agrees with the subject .
More examples :
(i) Swati spends her free time listening to music .
(Singular subject with singular verb)
(ii) Krishna and Balram play the piano . (Plural subject with plural
verb)
(iii) Radhe likes to have a dessert after every meal .
(Third person singular noun with singular subject)
Note :
The subject can be a noun, a pronoun or even a noun phrase . If it is a pronoun
, the subject-verb agreement is done with reference to the person of the
pronoun .
2. (a) When
everybody or everyone is used, the object must be singular, not plural .
Example :
Everybody knows his or her
name ( " Everybody knows their name "
is wrong )
(b)
When prayer , suggestion , wish , demand
, recommendation , or resolution is used in a sentence, the verb that follows
must be plural , whether the subject is singular or plural .
Example :
(i) It has been suggested
that he go ( not goes ) away .
(ii) The board has recommend
that the manager resign ( not resigns
) .
(iii) I pray that God help me
on my upcoming examination, ( not God helps ) .
(c)
When " many – a " is used , the verb and the noun that follows must
be singular .
Example :
(i) Many a candidate (not
candidates) speaks ( not speak) bad
English expressions .
(ii) Many a girl (not
girls) is
(not are) here .
The actual meaning of
statements (i) and (ii) are many candidates and many girls .
3. Collective nouns :
(a) Collective nouns
refer to groups of people , animals , or things as a single entity .
e.g.
(i) An audience which means people who watch programs .
(ii) The congregation,
which means worshipers .
(iii) Clergy which means
religion officers .
(iv) A club, which means
the association of members .
When a collective noun is
used as the subject of a sentence , the verb can be singular or plural ,
depending on the context .
Example : The team is playing well
. (singular verb)
In this sentence ,
"team" is a collective noun that refers to a group of individuals as
a single entity . The singular verb "is" agrees with the singular
noun "team" .
Example : The team are arguing among
themselves . (plural verb)
In this sentence ,
"team" is still a collective noun, but the verb "are" is
used because the individuals within the team are acting separately .
(b) When a collective
name , denoting category (not a collective noun) is used , the verb to be used
must be plural .
Categories like :
the poor , the rich , the wealthy , the successful , the gifted , the weak ,
the young in spirit , the handicapped , the helpless , etc. The verb to be used
should be plural .
Example :
(i) The poor need help ( not
helps or needs ) from the government .
(ii) The young are ( not
is ) disobedient .
(iii) The weak are ( not
is ) left to their fates .
4. Parenthesis : The
parenthesis statement is an additional statement to what has already been said before .
Note :
A parenthetical statement should not be considered in choosing the verb that
will follow .
Example :
(i) The teacher , not his
students is in the class .
The correct answer is, ‘
is ’ because ‘ not his students ’ is just parenthesis ,
and parenthesis has nothing to do with choosing the verb .
(ii) The manager, not
many of his workers , is ( not are )
here now . ‘ not many of his workers ’ is just a parenthesis , therefore, the
parenthesis should be ignored .
The manager is a singular
noun , hence a singular verb .
5.
When ‘ more than ’ is used , the word or number that comes after more than will
determine the next verb
.
Example :
(i) More than two apples are ( not is) here .
(ii) More than one mangoes
is (not are) here .
In the first statement ,
the answer is “ are ” not is because two attracts are but in the second
statement , the correct option is , “ is ” not are because one attracts is
.
6. Indefinite pronouns :
When any of the following
words are used, you should use a Singular verb –
“ Everybody , everything
, everyone , everywhere , no one , nothing , nobody , nowhere , something ,
someone , somebody , anyone , anything , anybody, anywhere and each ” the next
verb must be singular .
Example :
(i) Nothing goes ( not
go) .
(ii) Everybody likes (not like) him .
(iii) Everybody thinks (not think) she stole the money .
(iv) Each of the students
has ( not have ) a different opinion
.
7. Relative nouns :
When who, whose, which
and that refers to a previously mentioned noun or pronoun, such noun is a
Relative noun .
Example :
One of the farmers who plant (not plants) on the farm has (not have) been asked to withdraw .
8. Uncountable nouns :
(A) Countable nouns are nouns that can be quantified in units and numbers , that is , are nouns that can be counted .
e.g. chairs , tables , phones , stars , etc.
(B) Uncountable nouns are nouns that cannot be quantified in units and numbers.
e.g.
water, information, equipment , etc.
Note :
all uncountable nouns will avoid “s” at the back .
It is wrong to use any of
these words given below –
Informations , clothes ,
equipments , furnitures , machineries , datas , advices , evidences , wealths ,
etc.
Instead, you say a piece
of , information , evidence , data , cloth , equipment , advice , etc
It is wrong to say machineries instead , you say a machine or two machines .
# # Other examples of nouns that attract plural verbs are –
(i) The police work hard (not works) , but , that policeman
(not policemen) works (not work) hard
.
Police and policemen are collective nouns that
is why they attract a plural verb .
But policeman is not
collective noun but a singular noun , hence a singular verb
(ii) The headquarters look
(not looks) palatial .
(iii) Cattle give
(not gives) bad odo , and a cow gives bad odor.
(iv) Aircraft make (not
makes) traveling easier but , that chopper , airbus , or airplane makes
traveling easier .
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